


The Learing Curve

by IJM



Category: General Hospital
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-18
Updated: 2020-08-18
Packaged: 2021-03-05 19:55:21
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,018
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25980937
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/IJM/pseuds/IJM
Summary: Elizabeth teaches Franco a little something about marriage.
Relationships: Franco Baldwin/Elizabeth Webber Baldwin
Comments: 2
Kudos: 12





	The Learing Curve

**Author's Note:**

> I haven't felt inspired to write for what feels like forever. But the dumpster fire of the past few shows sparked this. I hope you enjoy it.

Elizabeth and Franco Baldwin were enjoying a quite breakfast for two, an uncommon occurrence with three boys in the house. The boys were sleeping late, taking advantage of the quickly fading days of summer. They would be awake closer to lunchtime and have to fend for themselves while their parents were at work.

Elizabeth sipped her coffee and glanced at her husband.

“What’s up?” he asked.

“What do you mean?”

“You’re thinking about saying something,” he told her, easily reading her intentions. He thought they had settled their disagreement from the night of the party. He apologized for being stupidly tempted by the idea of fame and she apologized for changing her mind so frequently that he couldn’t keep up with her. When the dust settled, they realized they both just wanted what was best for their family and they had different ideas of how to get it.

“Well,” she hesitated at the idea of bringing up the party. “I overheard part of your conversation with Ava the other night.”

“Which part?” he asked, unphased. There was nothing he would say to Ava that he wouldn’t say in front of his wife. 

“You were talking about Kiki. How Ava still mourns for her and how empty she feels.”

He nodded. “Kiki is the thread that keeps us friends.”

“But you don’t talk to _me_ about Kiki.”

Franco had a confused expression. “Am I supposed to?” he asked.

Elizabeth shook her head. The question was genuine. She sighed. “Look, I realize from the moment you were born until we met, every relationship in your life was toxic. But we’re not toxic. I’m your wife. If you need to talk about Kiki, you can talk to me. I’m not saying you have to, but you _can_.”

“Oh,” Franco said. He seemed surprised. “I just thought… I mean, you lost Jake for several years. I didn’t want to remind you of losing a child. And Kiki wasn’t really mine, so I don’t know if I’m supposed to feel this much loss anyway. I thought Ava was the only person who could understand.”

“Seriously?” Elizabeth asked. “You don’t know if you’re supposed to feel the loss of your child two years later? You really are on a learning curve.” She shook her head. Franco joked that he was emotionally immature. Sometimes it wasn’t a joke.

“Well…” he let whatever he was going to say fall away. He didn’t know what he was supposed to say.

“She was _your_ child. Kiki chose _you_. Even Ava chose you. Kiki was yours for twenty-one years before Silas Clay was a short-lived factor. Kiki didn’t stop thinking of you as her dad. You never stopped thinking of her as your daughter. If you need to talk about losing your child, who better to talk to than your wife who has been through something similar?”

“But, won’t it hurt?”

“I’m in a unique position of having my son come back to me. I’ve done a lot of healing, though I will never forget what it was like to lose him and I will never shake the fear of something happening to any of the boys.”

“Well, that’s normal,” Franco told her. “Right?”

“What do you think?”

“I worry about something happening to the boys, or not being to provide everything they need. It must be, like, ten thousand times that for you.”

“Do you think Jason or Lucky worry about their boys? I sure don’t get that impression from how little they have to do with them. See, Franco, you’re a dad at heart. And you’re _here_. That means more than DNA. It meant more for Kiki too. She adored you, you know.”

He smiled. Yes, he knew that Kiki adored him. It was entirely mutual. “I miss her every day. I told Drew that I hope one day the good memories will be more pronounced the painful memories. I’m getting there, slowly. Very slowly.”

Elizabeth took his hand, squeezing it gently. She smiled to encourage him to keep talking. “Do you feel empty, like Ava?” 

“Empty? No. I have you and the boys and you fill my life with hope and love. But I do have a… hole, I guess, where Kiki should be.”

“I understand,” Elizabeth was relieved that he did not feel the emptiness that Ava had expressed.

“I’d trade places with her, you know. She had so much potential. She was a light in this world. She would have been a great doctor because she was compassionate and smart.”

“You’d trade places with her because she’s your little girl.” She reached for his face and pushed his hair away from his forehead. “She could’ve been rotten to the core and you would have given your life for her… because she was yours.”

He nodded, “Yeah, you’re right. But she never could have been rotten to the core.”

“I know,” Elizabeth nodded. Franco chose to only remember the good about Kiki and that was okay. “Well, if it means anything, I, for one, am thankful that you couldn’t take Kiki’s place. Our family wouldn’t be complete without you. You know the boys love you almost as much as I do.”

“Almost?” he repeated. 

“Almost,” she answered with a wink. 

“How much do you love me?” he asked.

“To the moon and back… deeper than the holler,” she referenced a book and a Randy Travis song. 

“That’s pretty deep,” he laughed, and Elizabeth giggled with him.

He took her hand, holding it tightly. “Hey… thanks.” His tone was serious.

“For what?”

“For letting me know it’s okay to talk about Kiki.”

Elizabeth sighed. “It’s okay to talk about anything you need or want to talk about. Except professional soccer,” she cringed. “That can be your thing with Cam.”

“No professional soccer,” he agreed. “Anything else?”

“Football, basketball, and monster trucks.”

He shrugged. “Got it.”

“Well, what about you?”

“What?”

“Anything you don’t want me to talk about?”

“Um… your ovaries?” he suggested. “Nah, it’s okay. Unless you need to, of course.”

“Good, because I was just about to tell you about my left ovary.” 

—END 


End file.
